City noise – how to solve ...
Do you live in the city? There is going to be noise, but you can cope.
The city buzzes with life. It is noisy but it is an active, alive noise. It is people doing things. Travelling on trams, digging up the road, constructing a building, cleaning the streets, paramedics rushing to a medical emergency, fire trucks keeping our city safe …
This is good noise. The noise of living. But there is bad noise as well. The disco that runs until 3am playing loud music so that you cannot sleep. There are loud motor bikes that tear up and down the streets at night disturbing the neighbourhood. Then there are the motor vehicles that have faulty or deliberately modified mufflers. What a din! Both types of muffler-deficient vehicles are a current problem, driving residents “up the wall”.
There are noisy people in the streets. Happy noises of people laughing, fooling about, having fun. Nasty noise where people are angry, drunk possibly, and maybe aggressive. Residents don’t want that noise, either!
Another problem area is the water-powered excavation pumps that often run at night when traffic is light. These machines are really loud with a consistent whine that makes you reach for the nearest sound cancelling headphones to give some relief.
Finally, to top off this list of noise problems, there are the rooftop air conditioning units. Not all are noisy, but some are. These disturb your equanimity as they turn on and off, all day long, and into the night. It is really difficult to get absent owners to respond to such noise.
What can we do to mitigate noise?
The Environmental Protection Authority’s (EPA) website has excellent information about noise, explaining the laws that make it an “offence to cause unreasonable noise” depending on its volume, intensity, duration and time of day. Too much noise can reduce people’s quality of life as it causes stress and sometimes severely affects sleep – vital for good health. And that’s apart from the danger to your hearing if exposed to intense, loud noise.
There are things that you can do. The EPA explains the avenues available in their many documents. Raise the issue with your neighbour or whoever is causing the noise, contact the City of Melbourne or Victoria Police (dial 000 at night) and there are other measures.
With regard to the current motorcycle and motor vehicle noise, under Part 5.6 of the Environment Protection Regulations 2021, motor vehicles must meet noise standards when travelling on roads. In addition, the Victorian Road Safety (Vehicles) Regulations 2021 also has a regulation (289(1)) for noise. It states, “a person must not use a vehicle on a highway if the vehicle is creating undue noise”. The only problem is that currently neither of these regulations appear to be being enforced.
Protect your apartment
Another approach is to protect your apartment. In the past it has not been the custom to install double glazing that has the effect of reducing background noise as well as providing insulation from cold weather. It is possible to install retrofitted double glazing, however. There are two types. One uses polycarbonate glazing attached to the inside of your window with magnets. The other uses glass that is also fitted to the inside of the window. Both methods cut down noise appreciably and reduce the need for air conditioning.
It is also possible to measure noise level on your phone. There are several apps available for this purpose. When noise inside your apartment is greater than 75 decibels, rest assured, that is noisy and unreasonable!
Where taverns are licenced for live and/or DJ’s music, the low frequency (bass) noise generated is difficult to measure but can disturb many residents with the vibration and repetitive sound. This is a modern problem that the licencing authorities should take into consideration. Many times, double glazing is not sufficient to block low frequency sound. Such venues need to be required to have adequate sound proofing.
Most owners’ corporations have rules in place to ensure noise inside apartments is minimised. Floorboards are required to have sound insulation underneath. In new buildings walls should be properly insulated from sound transmission. Older buildings built with thick brick or stone walls have good natural sound protection.
Residents 3000 supports idea of quiet, peaceful, enjoyment of our environment.
Authorities put laws and rules in place from time to time, but it is up to the residents of the city to make sure that those policies are enforced.
Unless we take the effort to follow through on unacceptable noise issues, then standards will inevitably fall and “less than ideal” will prevail.
Residents 3000 is a community group with a long history of representing our members when times get tough and living amenity in the city is threatened. We aim to work together with authorities to keep our city a happy, pleasant place to live.
Next Residents 3000 Forum
We are pleased to welcome back the Metro Tunnel team for an update. There is much activity happening with trains doing practice runs through the tunnel. All the new station builds are well advanced. The meeting will be held at the Kelvin Club on Thursday, February 6, 2025, at 6pm for 6.30pm start. More details can be found at: residents3000.org.au. •

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